Beijing's 800-plus star-rated hotels will be ready for an estimated 1 million foreign athletes and visitors during the 2008 Olympics, said Du Jiang, director of the Beijing Tourism Administration.

"Hosting the Olympics will create tremendous opportunities for Beijing's tourism industry, including hotels and restaurants," said Du, during a tourism work conference held on Friday.

"But the city also faces the challenge of accommodation capacity, and next year will be crucial to build Beijing into a first-class tourist destination."

Beijing currently has more than 700 star-rated hotels, including 37 five-stars, 91 four-stars and 228 three-stars.

Last year the administration accredited 253 unrated hotels deemed to have reached "Olympic standard" from a pool of 4,000. Selection will continue this year to boost the level of accommodation in the city, the official said.

"Beijing will be able to provide 130,000 quality hotel rooms with 570,000 beds by the time the Games are held," Du said.

To date, 122 hotels have been contracted to service the Beijing Olympics, with an average price of $353 per day for a double room in a five-star hotel. Other hotels will be able to make flexible price policies according to conditions, said Du.

"We are further enhancing the city's accommodation resources, emphasizing the service levels of the contracted hotels."

Current efforts include fostering high-level management and service teams for the Olympic Village and Media Village; a high-quality Olympic tourism website and a link to the official Olympic website; star-rated hotel staff training; and accelerated development of disability-friendly facilities.

The four-star Beijing Friendship Hotel, established 55 years ago, has been renovating its rooms, security, dining and conference facilities.

"We have been holding foreign language and manners training and exams in recent years for over 2,000 staff, including the oldest ones in their 50s," said Cao Jianyang, a senior official at the hotel. "All staff are required to pass the exams."

The hotel has also introduced more Western food to its menu to complement its Chinese, French and Russian dishes.

It is estimated that Beijing will receive 4.4 million overseas visitors who will spend $4.5 billion in 2008, and 150 million domestic visitors, who will spend $14.8 billion.

Last year Beijing received 3.9 million overseas visitors to achieve $4 billion in foreign exchange, according to Friday's conference. Meanwhile, 132 million domestic tourists contributed another $18.5 billion in 2006.

Overall income from tourism in 2006 increased by 13.2 percent on the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2007)